A fact-finding report on communal policing to hate crimes, The Attack on Ambedkar's Dream of Fraternity in Dakshina Kannada from January to September, compiled by People's Union for Civil Liberties - Karnataka (PUCL-K), All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ), All India People's Forum (AIPF), Gaurilankeshnews.com was released at Roshini Nilaya school of social work on Saturday.
Sharing her experiences on compiling the report, All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ) co-convener Maitreyi Krishnan said the PUCL had published a report on untoward incidents in the name of moral policing from 2008 to 2012. The issues like check on interfaith love, social boycott on minorities, atrocities in the name of cattle, suppressing religious freedom, and hate speech had been taken into consideration.
There is a need to fight against communal policing and hate crimes. There appeared to have been a decline in the incidents from April 2021 till August and a rise in these communal incidents was observed in the months of September – October, which coincides with aggressive calls for enactment of various legislations to “regulate” conversions and inter-faith marriages.
She said that the fact-finding team observed six patterns of communal violence. The first one is- enforcing social segregation, where two people from different faiths or religions were not allowed to mingle together. The second pattern is dictating intimacies, where right-wing organisations have been preventing any kind of inter-faith intimate relations.
Economic boycott is another pattern which became more prevalent during the pandemic. Other segments are attacks in the name of cattle protection; curbing religious freedom and hate speech. Development and social science researcher Dr M Chandra Poojary said; “The communal violence between 1970-1990 was seen in only three places—Kalladka in Bantwal, Bolwar in Puttur and Ullal. There were murders, assaults and loss of property in those days.”
Social activist Loretta Pinto said 71 untoward incidents had come to light in nine months, and that there may be even more unreported incidents.
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